Can Sunderfolk thread the needle to make RPG strategy fun for the whole family?

It isn't easy for a videogame to be welcoming, accessible, and deeply engaging. And in many respects this trifecta has become the domain of single player mobile games that aim to draw a player in and turn them into a wallet to be drained as efficiently as possible.

The development studio founded by ex Blizzard chief Mike Morhaime has aimed to bring those virtues to a game people won't feel bad for spending time in. Sunderfolk is a turn-based tactical RPG that the company says is "inspired by gathering around a table with friends".

It has the feel of a boardgame, too, as players work together to choose their moves based on decks of digital cards assigned to their character. With six unique creatures for players to choose from, each a 'class' in the classic sense of an RPG, there's plenty of room for strategy and players who come up with clever combination moves will be rewarded.

For example, the Arcanist (a crow) can teleport friends and enemies around the board with its spells, so it can use its turn to put enemies into harms way – usually one of the warrior type characters, like the Berserker (a polar bear). The Bard (a bat) can also boost the abilities of allies with its music, while the Pyromancer (a salamander) can use flames created by enemies to boost its own abilities and clear the flames for friends.

Importantly, the game is controlled through a player's phone instead of using a traditional game controller. For something designed for this "make it feel like a boardgame" target, this makes it so much easier for me to consider not just playing it with my kids but also with my parents. They would never want to mess about with thumbsticks and buttons, but would feel confident if they're told they just need to grab the app and we're ready to go.

And while it's very nicely suited to couch co-op, the main way we've played this at home so far, this app context also makes it viable for playing remotely with friends. One can stream their PC screen while the others are shown QR codes to join the game from wherever they are. I'll be doing this with some D&D night buddies when we find not everyone can make our usual fortnightly online sessions.

Friendly strategy

The experience so far is impressively balanced, giving depth of decision making without becoming overwhelming. As you progress, your characters earn new cards for their decks. They must always have certain kinds of good and bad cards in their draw, but some cards in every slot are better than others. It doesn't take too long to get the chance to remove a -2 damage card from your deck and replace it with a -1, for example, or to get some benefits out of otherwise neutral cards.

Players can also choose the order in which they take their turns themselves, working together to strategically put the right characters in the right places or casting spells at the right moment to maximise their results. Get your timings wrong and enemies can be unforgiving, so you quickly learn that decisions matter.

As a turn-based game it also takes the heat out of couch co-op. Anyone who has played Overcooked knows how some people get a little carried away with running their kitchen. Here the pause between turns gives the armchair generals an easier way to step up and point out where they think a clever strategy might be waiting to help seal a mission victory.

Missions aplenty

The beginnings of Sunderfolk set the scene for a fun story-based adventure, but it can feel a little slow. If you've already played the intro quests and you just want to give some friends a taste of Sunderfolk fun times it isn't as easy as it should be.

Once a campaign has four characters locked in you cannot swap them. So if a friend says "hey, that fire guy looks fun" but you haven't included it in your party you'd have to start a new campaign to let them try it out. Having a 'quick mission' option to jump in and play a random encounter would make for some great added fun to introduce someone to the game who isn't interested in coming back for an ongoing campaign.

But once you're bedded in with a regular crew, Sunderfolk grows and expands in fun ways. Your hometown gets upgrades and players can even romance townfolk in dialogue options. And between story missions you get the chance to play extra side missions (the kind I wish were easily accessed for quick play!) to earn extra equipment for your characters to face the challenges ahead.

Sunderfolk is a highly accomplished start as the first release from Dreamhaven. It has plenty to enjoy on day one and feels like it has a lot of room to spread its wings if it does well enough at launch. Even if it the game is only ever the game it is today, Sunderfolk is a charming and fun adventure that many families should grab and enjoy together.

Sunderfolk is out now on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.